Analysis on physique indicators of Uygur middle school students aged 13-18 years

Objective To examine the physical development of Uygur middle school students and to provide objective basis for promoting the health level of the students.Methods With stratified random cluster sampling,7 200 Uygur middle school students were selected in Hetian Prefecture of Xinjiang and the height,weight,chest and waist circumference in 2010 and 2012 were measured and analyzed.Results The physical development iudices increased with the increment of age among the students during the period of 2010-2012.Compared with 2010,the height and weight of urban students and chest circumference of urban girls showed an increase trend.The average annual increments of height and weight were 0.44 cm and 1.54 kg for urban male students,0.99 cm and 1.29 kg for urban female students,0.43 cm and 1.53 kg for rural male students,and 0.76 cm and 1.7 kg for rural female students,respectively.The average chest circumference inereased by 1.29 cm among urban girls but decreased by 0.32 cm for urban male students,0.68 cm for rural male students,and 1.55 cm for rural female students.The decline in average waist circumference were 0.68 cm,0.49 cm,0.83 cm,and 1.19 cm for urban boys,urban girls,rural boys,and rural girls,respectively.There was a difference between urban and rural students in physical development,with higher indicies among urban students than rural students(P < 0.05).Conclusion Among Uygur middle school students at age of 13-18 years,the indicies of physical development increase with age,and there are rural-urban differences in the indicies,with higher indicies for urban students than rural students.